Hyderabad: Freemasons Grand Festival begins here in the city at Imperial Garden in Secunderabad. The two day festival kicked off Saturday and will conclude on Sunday.
The Grand Festival is being held for the first time in Hyderabad in the history of Grand Lodge of India, the apex body of Freemasons in India. Freemasonry is a 293 years old organisation in India.
It is the annual gathering of Freemasons of the Grand Lodge of India. It is hosted by the Freemasons of Telangana.
1200 plus Freemasons from across India and abroad are participating in the Grand Festival. Delegates from several different Grand Lodges of countries such as the United Kingdom, Scotland, Paraguay, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Russia, Mauritius and others are expected to participate.
Speaking on the occasion Anish Kumar Sharma, Grand Master of Grand Lodge of India, the head of Freemasonry in India said Freemasonry is a way of life added while interacting with the media. When asked to comment on how he would like to make the organization more relevant to the present generation, since most of its members are old people, Sharma said, things are changing. We have a good mix of old and new members. We need both. We don’t solicit members. But we can get more and more youth and millennials joining us.
Freemasonry is a Moral-building organization, A.K. Sharma added. It teaches values and makes good men better. It teaches values such as Brotherly Love, Relief, Truth, Faith, Hope, Charity, Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, Justice, Virtue, Honour, Mercy, Wisdom, Strength, Beauty, Secrecy, Fidelity, Obedience, Courtesy, Benevolence, Gratitude, Duty, Kindness, Affability and many more.
Grand Lodge is the apex body of Freemasons in India, which was formed in 1961. Freemasonry traces its roots in India in the early years of the 18th century. In 1730 officers of the East India Company held their meetings in Fort William in Calcutta. Hence it is a historical moment all the Freemasons in Telangana should be proud of, said Mr Anish Kumar Sharma, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of India. Anish Kumar Sharma is the head of Freemasonry in India.
Grand Lodge of India (GLI) is the parent body of over 22,000 Freemasons in the country. There are masonic lodges (Branches or units) in over 160 cities across the country. Members of the fraternity address each other as ‘brothers’, and only the Grand Master has the title of ‘Most Worshipful’, according to the norms of Freemasonry.
